


Boulder and Boulder

by SansyFresh



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Accidental Abandonment, Alternate Universe - Monsters Weren't Sealed Underground, Angst, Canyon Climbing, Hiking, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Major Injury, Rock Climbing, edgeberry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2020-11-07 15:03:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20819288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SansyFresh/pseuds/SansyFresh
Summary: Blue gets himself in a sticky situation a la127 Hours. Will he be rescued before its too late?





	1. A Rocky Situation

**Author's Note:**

> new fic!! old apologies!! enjoy lol
> 
> this is a pre-Edgeberry fic, where Monsters were never locked up underground. Blue and Edge are in the same Rock Climbing group ;D

He slipped on his boots, the sturdy fabric snug against his phalanges. He flexed them, just to test, and grinned as there was little to no give. The steel toes would help as well, the cleats in the bottom good for the loose dirt and rocks he’d encounter. All in all, the best boots he could have bought, which was good because, from the stories, Elm Grove Canyon was a rough climb. It’d take at least an hour just to hike to it, and then another three to make his way through it, though thankfully he wouldn’t be alone.

Glancing up into the mirror, he fastened his bandana around his neck, pulling it tight before slipping his freshly laundered shirt on and heading out of his bedroom door. Rus was waiting downstairs, relaxing on the couch while he watched Masterchef. Blue could only hope one day the cooking skills of the chefs would one day impart themselves onto his baby brother, but today was not that day.

Rus gave him a look over, a sly grin on his face as he asked, calmly, “Won’t that shirt get all sweaty and gross by the time you’re done?”

Blue glanced down at his fresh, white tee, and looked back up, arms crossing over his chest. “I’ll have you know I used magic to get this shirt clean, little brother; no amount of sweat will touch it!”

Rus nodded, bemused, even as he turned back to his show. Blue shook his head, but gave his brother a small kiss on the head before he headed out the door.

It was a near twenty minute drive to get to the outskirts of Elm Grove National Park, his group waiting at the edge of the gate when he arrived. It stung a little, knowing that he was the last to arrive, but none of the climbing instructors seemed to care, waving him over as they started the brief on what groups were climbing where and the difficulty of the terrain. 

Blue tried to listen, his attention captured by the beauty of their surroundings, until his eyelights finally settled on one of his teammates. A smirk lit up his face as he caught sight of one Edge Aster, the hottest damn skeleton he’d ever met.

Edge was a bit of a hardass, always a stickler for the rules, but damn if his ass didn’t look nice when he was up above, climbing his way up a wall of stone. 

Blue had attempted his best maneuvers in regards to wooing said hotty, but Edge continued to be an enigma he just couldn’t crack. Edge had rebuffed every attempt at flattery, flirting, and just plain being nice. Of course, his rough appearance made Blue think he may have come from a more rough background, though that really wasn’t any of his business. 

Sidling up to the tall, scarred skeleton, Blue let his presence seem cool and focused, even as he felt the small bubbles of nervousness seep to the top of his soul. 

“I’m sure you’re aware of which team you’re on, since you were late.” Edge snapped quietly, eyelights focused on the instructors. Blue snorted, waving a hand.

“Sure, sure. I’m on your’s and Alexa’s. Like always.” He glanced up at Edge to find the taller skeleton smirking quietly. It took him aback, so much so that he nearly missed what Edge was saying.

“No, you’re on Mika and Harold’s, today. The captains aren’t so happy with your predilection towards harassment.” Edge sound smug, sure of his footing. Blue just smiled.

“Well I’ll just have to do my best to catch up with you then, won’t I?”

Edge’s eyes widened before they narrowed into a snarl and he turned back to the captains. Blue gave a shrug and decided that listening to the debrief may actually help with this climb.

Elm Grove Canyon was the holy grail of hiking and climbing trails in the area. It was marked as only for the most experienced climbers, and that any hikers should be fit and ready for a several hour climb through steep terrain. Blue wasn’t entirely certain why anyone would hike through there for fun, but he was excited to climb.

The walls were high, filled with holes and easy footholds from years of erosion. There were dips and valleys, peaks and near mountains, all filled with various canyons that stretched out for miles of wilderness. 

He’d been warned, multiple times, to never get out of sight of his teammates. If he fell and was trapped, or worse, got hurt and couldn’t get himself back out, his teammates needed to be nearby to hear him and help. The issue was that, true to his word, Blue wanted to spend more time with Edge than with  _ Mika and Harold, _ two of whom were some of the most boring, rule keeping of the bunch. Edge kept the rules, but he wasn’t a stick in the dry, dry dirt about it.

Soon enough the debrief was over and the captains were moving around, helping everyone with their gear and making sure every team had one member with their bag of essentials. Blue, of course, was not chosen to hold said bag. Then they set out on the main hiking trail, headed to the start of the canyons. Blue hefted his hiking bag over his shoulders, thankful for the lightweight nature of what would likely end up being the pillow he slept on that night. 

Of course, if he’d known what was coming, he may have turned around and headed back home.


	2. The Fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> pay attention to those tags, folks, shit goes down here
> 
> enjoy!

Harold and Mika took over pretty well immediately, bossing Blue around and telling him over and over that he needed to “keep form”, and that he wasn’t climbing right. Blue really just wanted to tell them to fuck off and let him do his thing. He’d been climbing a good decade at this point, he didn’t need these two telling him how to do something he loved. 

They headed for their climbing section with a determined stride, Blue lagging behind ever so slowly, until the two rule keepers were so far ahead and into their own conversation that he easily slipped away. He knew from the debrief which section Edge was going to, and while this little stunt might get him in trouble by the team leaders, he was determined to get a shot at getting Edge to like him.

The rocks and dirt crunched under his boots as he made his way up into the canyons, looking around in wonder as he thought about his strategy. Edge seemed like the type of guy to enjoy being complimented, but it was possible Blue had been a little heavy handed.

If anything, Edge seemed to hate Blue, but maybe he still had time to turn that opinion around? All he had to do was be himself and try to be more of a gentleman about it all, surely that would work. 

Of course, to even start his attempt to try, he needed to find and tagalong with Edge’s group. Surely he could come up with some excuse as to why he wasn’t with his own group easily enough.

But, as with most things, Blue being distracted in his own puppylove only made more problems than it solved.

Just as he was walking along the edge of a steep canyon cliffside, the bottom a good 50 feet or more down between two sheer walls, the dirt beneath his boots shifted just enough for him to lose his balance. Falling, body dangling just over the edge, he caught his balance by grabbing a large rock nearby, smiling at his fortune. 

The smile fell as the rock crumbled in his hand and he slipped, falling backwards into the canyon. 

~.~

When Blue awoke, he groaned, his entire body throbbing with pain. His arm hurt especially, but his head and neck ached too badly to turn to see what heavy weight seemed to be on top of it. He could see flecks of black still spotting in his vision, making it difficult to focus when every fiber in his being wanted to turn over and go back to sleep until the pain went away. 

Instead he went to sit up, crying out as whatever was on his arm barely moved and the shattered bone shifted in place underneath. Well, clearly, he couldn’t sit up, but maybe he could turn over? Shifting carefully, slowly, he moved until he was laying on his side, his arm stretched out in front of him in an uncomfortable position. Which was really the least of his concerns, seeing as how said arm was pinned under a giant ass rock. 

No matter how he shifted or tugged or pulled, the rock wouldn’t budge, and every single shift of his arm made him grit his teeth and hold back a scream. So, after a few minutes of thrashing and really just hurting himself, he flopped back on his back and covered his eyes, trying not to choke on his sobs.

No one knew where he was. He wasn’t even really sure which route he’d taken, seeing as how he’d been following the memory of the map and not a map itself. Harold and Mika would have no idea when they’d lost track of him, and no one else was even close to this area. Not to mention he had no food, no water, and no means of shelter other than the rock walls high above him. 

He was well and truly stuck. And it was all his own fault.


	3. Pain and Suffering

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the title says it all :)
> 
> warnings for realistic despair, thoughts of suicide in a really desperate situation, and lots of pain and suffering 
> 
> enjoy ;3

He laid there for a few hours before the tears started up again, his screams of help echoing off the cliff walls and into the sky far above. The sun was slowly setting, leaving him in a twilight of tears and agony. He’d never felt this much pain before, never been through this much tearing, agonizing pain in his soul. It felt as though his entire body was going to tear in two, at least at first. Most of the pain emanated from his head, then his arm. Then, after the sun had set and the cold set in, his entire body began to ache once more, from the tips of his toes to the top of his skull.

He couldn’t feel his hand. That was his first inclination that something was really, really wrong with it, other than being pinned and near crushed by the stone on top of it. Something about it made him want to cry, scream to the Angel to save him, but no matter how his cries echoed off the walls nothing happened. Nothing changed. He was still trapped and nothing he did made any difference. 

The night set in with a sudden snap of never ending darkness and cold, Blue shivering and wincing as the involuntary movement made his head and arm ache. The cold was, _again_, like nothing he’d ever felt. He was supposed to be in a tent surrounded by other monsters right now, and it wasn’t like skeletons really got cold, but here he was shivering his ass off. 

The only bright spot was that, if he looked up, the sky was expansive over his head, stars going as far as the eye could see. It was beautiful, and really the only thing keeping him from just giving up the ghost of hope that someone would find him.

Someone had to find him. The canyons were huge, yeah, but there were only so many paths. Surely someone would take the one he did, and he’d hear them, he’d call out, and they would save him. He had to believe that, because otherwise he was going to die in a super fucking sucky way. 

He wasn’t going to think about dying. He’d end it himself before it got to that point. 

Slowly, after hours and hours of laying and staring at the stars, his eyelids finally fluttered shut, and sleep took him.

~.~

He was awoken the next day by an unbearable amount of light directly on his sockets, the sun high above shining down right over the canyon he was trapped in. It hurt, the slow ache in the back of his skull upgrading to a full on throb the longer the light shone down. 

He huddled against the rock his arm was trapped under, cowering with his free arm covering his eyes in a desperate attempt to stop the light from piercing his eyes. It didn’t help all that much. 

His soul was starting to pang in hunger, his mouth beginning to grow dry and there was very little he could do about it. Harold had had the bag with all the supplies, seeing as how they didn’t trust Blue with them. It made sense, he guessed, since the first thing he’d done was wander off. 

If he could make any past decision over again, it would have been to fucking stay with them until the end of the trip. Edge didn’t even like him, he didn’t like what was essentially _harassment_, Blue needed to leave him the fuck alone. 

If he was saved, and he would be saved, he knew he would… he’d leave Edge alone. He wouldn’t talk to him, wouldn’t tease him, wouldn’t flirt. He’d even apologize for all that shit.

He just… had to get out of this pit first.

~.~

The night came again, this time even colder than the night before, or at least that’s how it seemed. His soul was actually _hurting_ with hunger, a new sensation that he was entirely unused to. 

It was uncomfortable, and only added to the list of things his body was complaining about. 

He remembered about halfway through the night that his phone was in his back pocket and, after a long several moments trying to reach it with his free hand, he cried out happily as he finally got it. 

Only for the screen to be cracked and, as he went to press the button, remain dark no matter what he did to try to make it start. Angry and hurt and  _ frustrated _ , Blue threw the phone across the pit, cringing as he heard it shatter against the far wall. Angry tears filled his eyes as he tried again to push the damn rock off his arm. Even if it was shattered beyond repair, his other arm and legs still worked, he could get himself out of here. 

But it still wouldn’t budge.


	4. Its time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> regular warning tags apply, but this is it guys :D
> 
> remember, no death in this one!!

His nonexistent stomach had long felt as thought it had shriveled up, but he knew logically that he could go at least another several days without food. What really worried him was the fact that his mouth had gone bone (heh) dry, and another day or so without water and his magic would start to drain to be used as moisture. It was something that was incredibly painful, or at least that’s what he’d heard. Actively losing magic was never a pleasant experience.

Blue wondered if Papy missed him. If he’d even been told by the group that they couldn’t find him, if he’d come and looked for Blue himself. Papy wasn’t good for climbing, Blue hoped he hadn’t come. He’d get hurt himself, and then they’d both be in a hole they couldn’t climb out of. 

He missed his brother. Missed the comforts of home, of his own bed, of food and fresh water. Missed the easy friendships he’d had, missed not feeling so much damn pain all at once, constantly, without end. 

It was easier, after three days, to sleep away the long hours. There wasn’t anything else to do, nothing to look at but dusty stone walls and the rock. He’d tried a few more times to figure out how the hell to get his arm free, but it wasn’t budging. So, he slept. And slept. And slept and stared at the walls and screamed into the emptiness above him and nothing ever changed. He was never getting out of here, he was going to die in this hole. 

But... as he woke from a particularly long nap on the fourth day, his eyelights fuzzy in their sockets as he glanced around his prison, he wondered what the hell had woken him up. It’d been some kind of noise, he was sure of that, but he had no idea what it had been because now that he was awake, there was only silence. 

He listened intently, the tiny hope that’d been dormant since the second night flaring a little in his soul. Then, after several long moments of silence, there it was again; a slight scuffling. 

It could have been an animal. It could have been a mountain lion, stalking through the canyon looking for easy prey, and if it had been, Blue would have accepted his death with grace and a big ass smile on his face. But as soon as Blue identified the sound as something moving around he began to scream. 

“Help me! God please help me, I’m stuck, please-!”

Tears began streaming down his face as he cried for help until his breath was gone, blurry eyelights looking desperately to the top of the wall for the sign that someone was here to save him.

When Edge’s head poked over the side, Blue thought he might have actually died and gone to see the Angel.

“Blue! Are you okay?!” Edge called down, already climbing over the side to scale down the wall. Blue was unable to answer, choking on relieved sobs, his soul so full of relief and trembling panic that it might burst. 

Then Edge was next to him, gently prodding and poking his body, and it was with all the strength Blue had left that he reached up and clung to Edge with his free hand.

“Its okay Blue, I’m here now, I’m not leaving.” Edge said, firm and resolute. Blue nodded, still sobbing as Edge looked him over. He winced when Edge finally prodded at his arm, the motion after so long like a hammer blow to his bones. 

“Alright, I’m going to move the rock. Bite down on this.” Edge said, handing him a small, thick rag. Blue put it in his mouth, but the scream still rung over the canyon walls as Edge took a bone and leveraged the rock up and over until it struck the ground with a thump. Blue turned to look at what was left of his arm, only for Edge to turn his face back straight up.

“No, don’t look at it.” He commanded, Blue nodding tearfully. Edge got to work instantly, grabbing supplies from his bag and wrapped what was left of Blue’s arm up, along with his skull and a few cracks and breaks in his ribs. But as he worked, guilt ate at Blue’s soul until the words he was thinking burst from his mouth.

“I’m sorry Edge, I’m so sorry for harassing you and making you uncomfortable and for leaving my group to come find you and-” Blue choked on the lump in his throat, the words flowing with tears as he apologized to the last person he thought would still be looking for him.

Edge looked down at him in silence even after he stopped, his face unreadable before finally, he leaned down, pulling Blue into a gentle hug.

“I’m not angry about any of that. I promise.” 

Blue could have started bawling again, but as it turned out, having no food or water for four days made a guy tired. His eyelids started to close, Edge asking him with urgency to stay awake, but he was so tired, so tired...

~.~

The world was a swirl of black and white, lights and darkness, orange tears and red eyelights. Blue was unaware of anything around him for a long time, long enough that when he woke up, his head no longer ached and his arm, or what was… y’know, left of it, had dulled down so much that he no longer really felt it either. 

It was strange, not being in pain, especially since there was a giant ass needle stuck into his arm, but by the glowing liquid he could see dripping through it, he could only assume he was on some kind of antibiotic and morphine mix. At least that’s what they did in the movies; knock ‘em up and give them pain meds, they’ll be better in the morning.

A loud snore interrupted his thoughts, his eyelights snapped over to find his little brother sacked out on a fold up lawn chair, likely one he’d brought himself. The hospital chairs were nothing to sneeze at in terms of discomfort, so Blue was sure Papy had brought the stupid thing in when no doctors were looking. 

Sighing, Blue felt tears stream over his smile as his breath hitched. He still couldn’t believe that this wasn’t a fever dream, or a hallucination brought on by not having any water. But when his brother kicked out in his sleep, jostling the bed enough that Blue moved with it, he laughed.


	5. Their Ending

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there we go guys, the end of this fic!! damn it always feels nice to end a fic lol
> 
> thank you all for reading ^^
> 
> enjoy!

Blue was trying very, very hard to not roll his eyes as his little brother pointedly laid a blanket over his now stump of an arm, the shivers already calming down even if Blue wished the itching would give it a rest. He’d been cold because of the magic salve they’d been slathering on the end of what was left of his arm, but every time he covered it up he could feel the phantom pains of the rest of his arm, which… wasn’t there anymore. 

It was annoying, and it itched like crazy, so he just always uncovered when Papy wasn’t in the damn room. Which was few and far between, seeing as how Papy was a bit of a prick when it came to Blue’s health. Sure he cared, but he cared too much, at least to Blue. Blue was shivering? He needed to be covered up. Blue was sweating? He needed to be stark naked.

“You gotta keep covered up, Blue, or the doctors will keep you longer. They already think you developed some kind of pneumonia from being in the cold for so long.” 

Blue did roll his eyes then, tired, so tired of doctors and nurses and being poked and prodded. “I don’t have any pneumonia. If I did I’d be hacking up those lungs I don’t have.” 

Papy was giving him a glare that he 100 percent did not deserve, but just as he opened his mouth to say something to derail the conversation (maybe he could get Papy to let him go on a walk or something, he was going  _ nuts _ ), there was a knock on the door. Already dreading the upcoming conversation, Blue called out a “Come in.” and watched as his regular nurse came in, the damned salve jar in her hands. 

“Its about that time, Mr. Serif.” she said, and Blue nodded, already cold, itchy and exhausted. It was as if he could never catch up on his sleep. Not after laying there, awake, and hopeless for so long. 

Papy blanched at the sight of the nurse beginning to unwrap his stub, and Blue waved him off, grateful when he just nodded and left. The less people that saw the results of his own stupidity, the better. 

The nurse was gentle as she applied the healing salve, rubbing it softly but firmly into the still sore scar that’d been left by the procedure. He’d been told he was lucky he’d survived losing his arm in the first place, what with his shitty HP. Blue was well aware of how lucky he was, thank you, and he didn’t need it repeated to him by every joe schmo who wanted to have a crack at that whole “Life Altering Experience”. He’d have given it to any of them, he swore it to the stars, if it meant that he was home already. 

Once she was done, he waved her off from checking his other injuries, claiming he was about to fall asleep sitting up. It wasn’t exactly a lie, but as she helped him lay down fully, turning the light off and no doubtedly telling Papy he needed to go home for now, he laid there, blinking slowly until he drifted off. 

He dreamed of screams bouncing off cavern walls, the never ending darkness, the sight of stars so far above him.

Fortunately he wasn’t the type of person to scream in his sleep, but he’d said a few things apparently when Papy was around that made him look sadder than the day they’d lost Rocky. 

He woke again when a knock on his door sounded once more, Blue struggling to sit up as he called a weary “Come in.” 

He sat up fully in shock as who came through the door but Edge, decked out in full biker’s gear and holding a paper bag of Grillby’s. Blue couldn’t help but laugh in delight, trying to get up and out of bed to greet him before Edge was taking long strides to him, laying him back in bed with a scowl. Oh, how good it was to see that scowl.

“You should be staying in bed, Blue, there’s no reason to get up and ruin the good doctor’s hard work!” Edge admonished him, though Blue just let it go through one auditory canal and out the other. 

“Edge, I’m so excited to see you! How have you been, how is Red? Have you tried anything new recently, I know you were considering visiting that Thai place but I read bad reviews on that particular restaurant and I just wanted to let you know-!” 

Edge shut him up with a single finger tip to the teeth, a near silly smile on his face. “I’m excited to see you as well, Red and I are fine, and I did try that Thai place, and I assume they’ve upped their standards some since those reviews since I had a lovely time.” He glanced at Blue’s stump, just for a moment, but it seemed to bring the mood down quite a bit. Blue shifted, a bit uncomfortable but willing to listen, and Edge pressed on, even though the words seemed like lemon juice in his mouth.

“You’ve been banned from the rock climbing group, as well as most of the others in the area.” He paused, swallowing. “I’m sorry Blue.”

Blue blinked, trying to find some sort of sorrow in that, but could only grin. “After that shitshow, you’ll be grateful if I leave the house at all!”

Edge laughed, the sound deep and grating but oh so Edge and Blue couldn’t help himself, not when Edge was this close, hand resting near his own. Reaching up, quick as a snake, he kissed him, just a brief peck that turned into a longer, more drawn out kiss as Edge finally seemed to reboot and return the favor. 

They finally pulled apart, Blue breathing heavily and feeling the ache in his arm from the position he’d been in to pull that kiss off, Edge smirking down at him. 

“So I finally find out what your intentions were.” Edge said, smug, and Blue could only blink. 

“My intentions?”

“Yes. You wished to smooch my handsome visage and yet, the way you went about it was horrible puns about rocks and rope gear and carabiners!”

Blue looked away, sheepish, only for Edge to pull him back, eyelights twinkling with unshed tears as he stared down at him. 

“I’m sorry I asked the captains to put you on a different group. If I had been there, if I had known…”

Blue flapped his hand, trying to flap away the very idea that his own stupidity was anyone's fault but his own. It was laughable, thinking that Edge was responsible. So he told him so.

“Me falling was my own fault, Edge. I knew the dangers, and yet I was so focused on bugging you that I didn’t watch my footing.” Blue took a breath, sighing it back out. “What happened, happened. Nothing about it can change. I lost my arm, but I gained a friendship back, and… maybe something more?”

Edge laughed again, the sound filling Blue’s soul with happiness, and he smiled.

“Definitely something more.”

Blue smiled, happy, before he noticed the obvious smell of bacon and cheese filling the room. Glancing around, he found that bag from Grillby’s, sitting on the edge of the bed all on its lonesome. Making grabby hands at it, Blue gave Edge puppy dog eyes until he brought it over, producing a thick bacon cheeseburger, smothered in ketchup, and a whole to go box of fried, piping hot. 

He might have cried if he wasn’t already crying, Blue stuttering a watery “Thank you.” as he unwrapped the burger and took a large bite. 

“Good stars, I haven’t had a burger from Grillbz in a long ass time…” Blue said, relishing every bite.

Edge rolled his eyes, but was smiling. “I asked your brother what your favorite food was, and he and I had a discussion about my intentions. We have an understanding.”

There was a sudden clearing of a throat, Edge jumping up and off the bed, the two of them looking to the doorway to find Papy standing there, arms crossed. 

“Y’know, next time I won’t believe the nurse when she says you’re sleeping, asshole.” he said, walking over and stealing a fry, ignoring Blue’s heartfelt cry of betrayal. “You and I have an understanding,  _ Edge _ , but that doesn’t give you permission to be here when my brother is hurt and easily swayed.” 

Blue scoffed. “As if me catching you with Muffet wasn’t a thing, you heathen! I had to clean cobwebs out of the sheets for  _ months _ !”

Edge only watched, passively as both brothers began fighting over the box of greasy food and who was more of a hoe, a smile still playing on his face.

Yes, this was a good ending. He wouldn’t consider any of the other possibilities. Not when so many of them ended with him standing at a grave, wondering if he could have done anything better, anything more. 

No, this was their ending. 


End file.
